Beyoncé gave us the best “Cowboy Carter” present this Christmas, so I hope your Santa hat was securely attached.
The diva sang songs from her popular 2024 album “Cowboy Carter” in front of a live audience for the first time, spreading festive cheer during Wednesday’s Halftime Show at the Christmas Day Texans-Ravens NFL game in her hometown of Houston, Texas.
Beyoncé truly rode in on a horse to start her legendary performance of “16 Carriages.” Alongside country singers Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts, with whom she co-wrote the song, she started her rendition of The Beatles’ iconic hit song “Blackbird” after dismounting with vintage cars parked in the background.
Following Queen Bey’s duet with country artist Shaboozey, Post Malone made an unexpected appearance to perform their collaboration, “Levii’s Jeans.”
Joined on the field by her daughter Blue Ivy, who danced with her mother during the song “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Beyoncé also sang “Ya Ya” with the support of a full marching band.
Beyoncé, elevated above the field on a white platform, spoke the words, “Merry Christmas, God bless y’all,” as the set came to a close.
Beyoncé has attended important NFL-related events before. During the 2016 Super Bowl performance, the Grammy winner joined Coldplay and Bruno Mars on the pitch. She also headlined the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans.
She also promoted “Cowboy Carter,” the much-awaited “Act II” sequel to her 2023 album “Renaissance,” in an advertisement that aired during the 2024 Super Bowl.
Since its March release, “Cowboy Carter” has received 11 Grammy nominations.
A humorous video showing Queen Bey finger-picking a banjo and stopping a rolling football with her sky-high heels while playing her hit song “Texas Hold ‘Em” was released on Tuesday, hinting at this week’s performance.
With a red spinning circle on Beyoncé’s nose, the video is designed to look like it’s buffering at one point, making fun of Netflix’s past lagging livestream problems, which many people pointed out during the somewhat jerky livestream of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight.
Beyoncé can be heard laughing and giving the camera a wink after the fake “glitch.”
Netflix made more system optimisations to enhance viewing quality and better manage the massive viewership they expect the NFL games on Christmas Day to attract, a Netflix representative previously told CNN.
Both the Chiefs vs. Steelers game earlier in the day and the Texans vs. Ravens game on Christmas Day were streamed via Netflix.
During Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL games, Mariah Carey, the self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas, also made a big impression. She was included in a pre-recorded video of her timeless Christmas song, “All I Want For Christmas is You,” which was streamed before both games.
The Grammy-winning singer Carey performed on a rooftop in Los Angeles to commemorate the song’s 30th anniversary. Carey sang in front of a fake snowstorm while accompanied by dancers and kids dressed in Christmas-themed attire.
